Island of Souls
by Sunglasses-At-Night
Summary: A little Post-Revolutions ficlet that made me feel better. SPOILERS!


Spoilers: This is majorly spoiler-ish for Revolutions, so, if you haven't seen it yet, (& you call yourself a Matrix fan…), you might want to save this fic for later. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: Are these things really necessary? I mean, I know its tradition, but shouldn't the fact that I don't own The Matrix be self evident? If I did, why would I be writing fan fiction? Why I ask, WHY?!?

Island of Souls

She felt him kiss her, heard him crying, and began to slip away from her body. It wasn't at all like plugging into the matrix, there was not the pain of a spike being shoved into the base of her skull, nor the near instant transition into a new awareness. She could see everything, herself lying on the ground, Neo prostrated atop her, weeping as she had never seen him weep before. She wanted to reach out to him, to touch him, to hold & comfort him, but she had no choice but to float helplessly away, ascending on her lonely journey like a child's lost balloon.

Soon, she was outside the ship, out in the machine city, sad that she could no longer look upon her love, but accepting that there was nothing more she could do. For her, at least, the war was over, and she had every confidence that Neo would try his best to end it for everyone else before the night was out. Soon, she was sailing through the thundering grey clouds up into the magnificent clear sky that she had seen for the first time such a brief while ago. It was bright, and beautiful, and soon she was surrounded by light, it enveloped her, protected her, and drew her away from the world.

The next thing she was aware of was standing in a large room. It was warm, & comfortable. It gave the feeling, not precisely of home, but more like the house of a dear friend where one was always welcome. She looked down to discover that she had seemingly been returned to her body. However, there were no wounds, not bloodstains, not even any plugs. She was not wearing the torn sweater she had died in, she realized with some surprise that she was wearing what she had worn that last night in Zion. She smiled as she remembered the care she had taken to pick it out, and the utter abandon with which it had shortly thereafter been removed. Lost in her reverie, she took her time in noticing the woman standing across the room, looking at her.

"Welcome Trinity.", the woman smiled, she was very beautiful, and her eyes were kind, & though Trinity knew not where she was, she sensed that there was no cause for fear. Even so, the instincts of a soldier are long enduring, and Trinity as not accustomed to being in situations that were beyond her control.

"Where am I?", she asked in a manner that, though direct, was not impolite.

"Where do you think you are?" the woman countered.

"I know this isn't the real world, but it certainly doesn't feel like the matrix."

"This is true, but there are other worlds to be known beyond those of code and flesh."

"Am I in heaven?", she asked doubtfully. Although she found here a sense on peace, this was not what she'd imagined heaven to be. As she pondered this, she realized that she'd not imagined heaven for a long time, not since she'd been unplugged anyway. In the days before Neo had entered her life, she had been too busy to think of such things, the prospect of heaven had been so completely remote from the life she was living. Once she and Neo were together, she had found heaven in his arms, and there had been no need to search elsewhere.

The woman smiled at her again before speaking, "No, this isn't heaven, not yet. This is rather like the train station you visited, an island that exists between one world and another. You will wait here until you are ready to cross over."

"Oh.", she paused, considering what to say next, "How long will I have to wait?"

"Not long, it's just that you won't be going alone."

"Oh?" though it was clearly a question, the woman just smiled again, offering no further information. After pausing for a moment, she added, "Make yourself comfortable, it shouldn't be much longer now."

Trinity sat down, and looked sadly at her feet, all the comfort of the room could not assuage her pain at having left her love behind when he needed her most. The woman walked towards her, and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "There is little I can say to help you, but believe me, I understand your pain, all to well I'm afraid.", Trinity looked into her eyes, and saw a deep sadness that dwelt in them, the woman turned and walked gracefully from the room.

--

As he felt the light come streaming from his eyes, he knew he had made the right choice. There was no pain, there was nothing but the incredible relief that he'd done what he'd set out to do. The war was over. 

The light was all he saw for a time, until slowly a room came into focus around him, and his eyes fell on the woman he loved so dearly. His voice was quiet, disbelieving, timid even. He had not been afraid to face Smith, but in this moment he was terrified that his eyes, (which curiously seemed to be in working order), had deceived him. "Trinity?"

Her head whipped around in the direction of the voice she knew so well. She stood slowly, not trusting what lay before her. If nothing else, her years in the matrix had taught her that appearances could be deceiving. Yet a part of her knew this was real. She began to walk carefully towards him, stopping less than an arm's length away. "Neo…" she spoke as she brought her hand up to touch his cheek. Once she felt his warm skin beneath her fingers all uncertainty left her. Her hand moved from his face to the nape of his neck, and she pulled his lips down to hers.

He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, clutching her to him, desperate to feel that she was truly there. They kissed for a moment, before he pulled away to look into her beautiful blue eyes, now filled with tears.

"I missed you." she whispered.

He smiled sweetly, "I can tell."

She laughed quietly, and rested her head on his chest as they embraced. She noticed that he too was wearing the clothes from that last night in Zion, as she rubbed her cheek softly across the worn material. He swayed back and forth, forgetting all that had befallen them, just enjoying the feel of her in his arms again. 

Then suddenly she moved back so she could look at him, remembering why they were there. "Neo? The war…"

"It's over.", when he noticed that the concern had not faded from her face, he continued, "We won."

Relief passed clearly over her features, but she was not yet done with her questions. "But you, you're here, so you must have…"

"It was well worth it; to save the world, to be with you again.", he commented lovingly, then as an afterthought, "Not necessarily in that order of importance."

She smiled at this, "I'm so proud of you Neo. I knew, from the first moment we touched in that club, I knew you were the one, I knew you would save us."

He looked sad then, "I couldn't save you Trinity."

"No, you did!", she protested, "Of course you did, time and time again you saved me from death. More importantly, you saved me from loneliness, from solitude. You took my relatively empty life, and filled it with love. I could never have asked for a better saviour.", with this she kissed him again, to express her self in a way that she knew far outweighed words alone. 

After a moment he pulled away, sighing contentedly, "I love you Trin, so much…"

"I know, I love you too, more than I ever dreamed possible." they smiled at each other, the tears returning for both of them, when their private monent was interrupted.

"Neo, welcome. I assume Trinity has had time to explain where you are?", noticing the way they were standing, and the embarrassed looks on their faces, she commented wryly, "Oh? Had better things to do I suppose…"

Trinity looked at her feet, Neo just smiled, "No, we've been catching up I'm afraid. But now that you mention it, I wouldn't mind knowing where we are."

"As I explained to your lovely partner, this is a way station between the physical and spiritual worlds, you're on your way to heaven."

He nodded, considering this, before asking, "Why are we in these clothes?"

"You are clothed as you were in your most recent happy memories, it was a coincidence that was the same event for both of you."

"Why are we clothed at all?", at the woman's surprised expression, he realized that his question had not sounded as he had meant it, "No! I mean… our bodies died. Why aren't we just masses of energy?"

"I see.", she commented with some relief. "Well, though you no longer exist as physical entities, you will continue to look and feel and… interact as you always have. You are simply no longer bound by the restrictions of the world you left behind."

"Sounds as though heaven isn't unlike the matrix." Trinity commented.

"No, in that regard, I suppose it isn't. But rest assured, there is nothing false about your destination. It is as real as anything on earth, I promise you that."

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Neo asked.

"We were waiting for you, but now that you're here, I see no reason why you should be delayed any longer. Follow me.", she led them through a door into a hallway, where an elevator was open, waiting for them.

Trinity and Neo stepped in, and just as the woman was about to press the button to close the door and take them on the final leg of their journey, he stopped her.

"Wait!", he exclaimed, "What about the others? Morpheus, Link, Niobe, what happened to them?"

"Though many were lost, those you mentioned managed to survive, and they are very grateful to you both for that." she paused, sensing that they both wished for more information, "If you so desire, you may watch over them, or anyone else for that matter, that is one of the privileges that will be afforded to you in heaven."

"How will we be able to see them, if we are no longer a part of their world?" Neo asked.

"It is precisely because you are no longer a part of their world. As I told you, you are no longer bound as you once were. You have the ability to travel between worlds as you please, and though your friends will no longer be able to see you, you are free to look after them.", they smiled at this, and she continued, "Now, if there are no further questions, I believe it is time for you to be on your way."

"Thank you, Miss…", Neo trailed off, realizing that he'd forgotten to ask the woman's name.

"I rarely have need of a name here, but in my time on earth, I was know an Mary."

Considering this along with her earlier words of comfort, a surprising thought occurred to Trinity, and she ventured, "As in the Virg-".

She was cut off, "No, I'm afraid not. My feelings for the saviour of my time were more like yours for him.", she said, gesturing towards Neo with a smile, and as she saw the light of realization dawning in their eyes, she quickly pressed the button that would take them to their final destination. As the doors that separated her from them began to close, she nodded shyly, confirming their suspicions, and gave a little wave, just before they passed from her sight.

Neo & Trinity turned to each other, as the felt the elevator begin its ascendance, and within seconds, they were back in each other's arms. "Nervous?", she asked eventually.

"Yeah," he admitted, "This all seems too good to be true, it's difficult to believe that I get to spend all eternity with the woman I love."

"Well, believe it!", she said, gazing at him sincerely. Then as the elevator drew to al halt, she left his embrace, and took hold of his hand, "Feel this Neo?", he nodded, knowing what was coming next, "I'm never letting go." she finished.

The doors opened, and they stepped out, hand in hand. They didn't know what to expect, or what the future held for them, but all that really mattered to either one was the fact that they were together.

The End

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed it, but whether or not you did, reviews would be appreciated! This is my first Matrix fic, & I'd sincerely like to know what you all thought.

Ps - Ok, maybe it was just me, but as I was writing this, I kept flashing to Keanu at the gates of heaven in "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey", (sweet Neo I love that movie!). "Every Rose has its thorn…" Did this make anyone else think of that? I'm not sure if that would be good or bad, but I was just curious. Send me a review & let me know!


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